With
this taking up to six months to restore, and Unit 2 at Loy Yang A being out,
concerns were raised over the state’s generation capacity over the summer
period.

AGL
executive general manager group operations Doug Jackson said ensuring the
unit’s future reliability was a critical factor in selecting a vendor.

“We
understand the importance of Loy Yang to Victoria’s electricity supply, GE is
the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) and has the expertise and experience
to complete this complex repair work,” Mr Jackson said.

“A
detailed technical analysis on the generator has been completed and the repair
will involve what’s known as a full rewind, which will see the replacement of
the original coils and copper parts.

“The
capital cost of the repair and upgrades at the station during the outage window
will be $57 million. Most of the work will be done by local providers and is
expected to create around 200 local jobs during the outage.

“The
expected return to service date remains mid-December 2019 and we’re looking at
other ways we may be able to increase generation from across our portfolio
while these repairs take place.

“As
the market operator, AEMO is responsible for managing system reliability and
while there are no forecast shortfalls by this outage, we want to do everything
we can to eliminate any impact of the outage on overall supply over this
period.

“We
have a range of options available due to AGL’s diverse and flexible portfolio
that allows us to manage this outage well.”